Sweetheart
by Open Casket Ceremony
Summary: Tao Ren is deathly terrified of blood, and yet, he is a medic. Usui Horohoro is deathly terrified of seemingly nothing, except for one small thing called love. And non one knew that it was these fears that would draw the two closer than they had expected.
1. Blood

Author's Note: This is mostly out of boredom. No idea if I'm even going to continue it properly, it all depends if I stop being lazy, and if I have time in between my hectic schedule. We'll see. So, here we go, another one of my dreadful fics to make you suffer.

I this fic might sound completely ridiculous to you - Like, hey. Since when does Ren know how to heal people (though Jun does), and since when was he hemophobic? It's called fiction, kids. Deal with it.

* * *

"Son of a bitch," Ren murmured to himself, thumbing rapidly through stacks of medical papers. He hated this job to hell, curse it to blazes. But he was sought out by the Patch for his education in shamanic medicine and practically forced into this stupid occupation. He had not come to Tokyo to become a medic. He had come to escape his duties to his family. 

Despite being a member of the Tao family, one thing Ren completely despised was bloodshed. The very sight of a single drop of the liquid was enough to make his knees tremble and his head spin. He hated how his father would kill senselessly and however he pleased, it made him sick to his stomach. And being a medic threw him right into the chaos that he had sought to escape.

A man with a kindly but worn-out face glanced through the doorframe. Doctor Faust, the head of all things medical 'round here. His skills dwarfed Ren's by tenfold, but yet, he treated him kindly enough, and, unlike Ren, he was undaunted by the site of blood and the dying.

"Tao?" the man addressed in a tired fashion. "It'd be great if you could put down the paperwork and actually get something practical done."

With a scowl, Ren shoved the medical papers back into their respective cabinets, shoving them viciously closed.

"Careful, Tao," Faust warned. "Don't break those. They cost more than they look."

The Chinese boy rolled his golden eyes heavenward. "I know, I know," he snapped in irritation, yanking his apron off its hook and tying it around his thin waist, fumbling with the knot for a moment before finally dusting the fabric's front off and exiting the office, into the ward.

As he stepped into the ward, the all-too-familiar wave of nausea washed over him, almost overcoming him with the terrible dizziness and fear. But he supressed it - He couldn't bear to see Faust's disappointed expression again, the one that he held in his features whenever Ren was to let his fear get the better of him.

And then he got to work.

Presently, a young boy who couldn't have been much older than Ren strolled causally into the room, sporting an arm that had crudely been wrapped in strips of cloth as makeshift bandages. It looked painful - The blood was soaking directly through the cloth, but yet, this boy seemed to be in a rather pleasant mood. His injury didn't seem to bother him the slightest bit.

"Hey, sweetheart," he called cheerfully, nodding amiably in Ren's direction. "Would you mind letting me trouble you with my arm here?"

Ren gave the boy a quick glance. A shock of stunning blue hair and wide obsidian eyes that seemed to radiate with a strange warmth. It made Ren feel nice inside, as if...

He blinked abruptly.

"S-Sure," he managed to mutter. "If you could just seat yourself in one of those chairs..."

"Sounds good," was the cheerful reply. "By the way, the name's Usui Horokeu, but they all call me Horohoro. Go ahead and do the same if you feel like it. I presume you've got a name, too, sweetheart?"

"Tao Ren," Ren answered simply, annoyed by the way this "Horohoro" continuously kept calling him "sweetheart." It was actually rather irritating.

"Ren, huh? That's a pretty name. I'll remember that one, sweetheart."

There he went again. Damn whoever came up with the word "sweetheart," Ren thought bitterly.

"Look," he demanded, glaring at Horohoro. "I don't have time to make small talk with you. Shut up and let me concentrate on your arm. I don't need you chattering away and distracting me."

Horohoro blinked, appearing hurt for a moment. He shrugged it off. "If you insist, sweetheart. Whatever you say."

Damn him to hell.

Ren chose to ignore him as he gingerly cut the sloppily fastened cloth from Horohoro's arm, his breath coming out in shorter gasps as he tried to forget that it was stained with blood. He discarded them before placing a hand atop the injury.

"Ouch, that smarts. Sweetheart, mind being a little more gentle?"

"I'm sorry," Ren grumbled, not sounding very sorry at all. He quickly withdrew his hand, however, noting it was now stained with blood as well. He inhaled sharply, gripping the edge of the chair to steady himself, knuckles whitening, attempting to fight off the sickening fear.

"You alright there, sweetheart?"

"Never been better."

"Hey, sweetheart-"

_"Don't call me that."_

"Sorry, sweet- Ren. Hey, if you're hemophobic-"

"I'm not."

"Just saying, sweetheart, no- Ren...Just saying if you're feeling uncomfortable, I can just leave right now..."

"It's alright. I intend on finishing what I started."

Horohoro peered curiously into Ren's face, seeming to effortlessly read his emotions, before he commented, "Hey, has anyone ever told you that you've got real pretty eyes?"

Caught off guard, Ren's cheeks instantly flushed a slight pink. "I don't recall," he murmured.

"C'mon now, Ren. No worries, huh? There's no need to be shy." Horohoro grinned sheepishly, giving Ren's hand a little squeeze. "I've got no problem with it, you know. Don't be so tense, sweetheart. Want to smile a bit for me?"

_"Shut up and let me concentrate, will you?"_ Ren hissed irritably.

"No worries, sweetheart. No worries."

Someone kill him now.

* * *

Well, that's chapter one...tell me what you thought and I'll see if I want to continue it. 


	2. For a Second Time

Author's Note: Yeah. I've decided to continue it for a bit, in case you haven't noticed. Though I doubt you're stupid enough to _not_ notice.

* * *

Ren took a deep breath, closinng his eyes for a moment to get a grip, before gently placing his hand on Horohoro's wound. Concentrating hard, he allowed his furyoku to move into his hand, in such a way that it was soon surrounded in a soft glow of concentrated furyoku. 

For a moment, he allowed his hand to rest there, only for a moment. He broke contact almost as soon as he could, face feeling hot. What reason was there for him to feel embarassed? He did this everyday. It wasn't like he had never touched another person. In fact, he could think of much worse situations that he had been forced to endure in the past, but no. This Usui Horohoro was different from the rest of them.

The Chinese boy turned away to regroup his thoughts, and upon calming down, produced a roll of fresh bandages.

All the blood had been cleared away, but Ren had to ask himself why he couldn't stop his hands from shaking.

Carefully, trying to hide his discomfort, he wrapped the bandages firmly around the area where applicable, fastening it securely with a knot, pulling the material taut. Once he was sure it would not unravel, he wiped his sweaty palms on the front of his apron an gave his patient a quick bow.

"I'm finished," he muttered. "You may leave now."

Horohoro observed his arm for a moment before his face once again broke out into a broad grin.

"Hey, Ren, sweetheart, you're really good at this, aren't you? I feel loads better than I did before," he commented, standing up and carefully prodding his arm as if to make sure no mistake had been made in the healing proccess. "You're one hell of a shaman, I'll tell you that."

Oh, for god's sake. Ren was so fed up that he had already decided to give up on asking this boy not to call him "sweetheart."

"It was nothing," he answered, finishing this statement with an icy glare, which meant something along the lines of, "Get out of my sight, or I'll kick you all the way to the Great Spirit myself."

"Hey, hey, you're too modest. You ought to give yourself at least a little credit, huh?"

"I said, it was nothing," Ren growled.

"If that's what you want to tell yourself, sweetheart." Horohoro gave him a wink before turning tail to head for the exit. "I'll see you around, alright?"

"I'd rather _not_," Ren hissed under his breath, but his conscience told him otherwise as he watched the shock of blue hair disappear from sight.

* * *

"Please, Tao. Get a hold of yourself." 

"I...I know."

Ren felt himself undergoing a strong panic attack as a maimed body was lain out on the cot before him. A few minutes earlier, a shaman had arrived to admit his companion, who had been brutally injured in a recent match. His entire midsection seemed to have been torn open, and burns covered the rest of his body, contorting what had once been a pair of eyes into hollow, smoldering pits.

And then there was the blood. All of it. Spattered across the white linen, dripping onto the floor and forming a pool on the tile floor, a pool which was rapidly expanding.

At this gruesome sight, Ren let out a soft whimper, struggling for breath. He felt as if a large, clawed hand had suddenly gripped onto his heart, squeezing it mercilessly, as if trying to squeeze the life from him. His knees began to feel as if they would not be able to support his own weight much longer, and he watched on with eyes widened by a suffocating fear.

Faust took one look at the charred form before muttering audibly, "This poor man must've had to fight Asakura Hao, god help him."

"D-Doctor Faust...Please, Doctor, I can't-"

Faust looked at the terrified boy, sighing in exasperation.

"Alright, Tao. I'll take care of this by myself, since you can't seem to handle it."

"I'm sorry," Ren answered shamefully.

Faust made no effort to reply, instead, busying himself by tending to the patient. Swallowing hard, Ren bowed briefly before slipping out of the room.

No sooner had he freed himself from the dreaded sight, he found himself face-to-face with, once again, no other than Usui Horohoro, in all his blue-haired, obsidian-eyed glory.

Ren seem startled for a moment before regaining composure and demanding, quite angrily, "You again? Have you already gone and let yourself get hurt again? You incompetent-"

"Nah, nothing like that," Horohoro answered, cutting Ren off in mid-sentence. "I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing, huh, sweetheart?"

Ren scowled. "I'm busy," he snapped. "I don't have time for you to just pop in to chat whenever you please."

"Hey, don't judge me so quickly, will you?" Horohoro smiled. Again with him and that simply irresistable, warm, smile of his. "I just wanted to thank you for healing my arm."

"There's no need to thank me."

"Don't be like that, sweetheart. You know you did a good job."

"No, I don't know. Leave me alone." Ren turned to leave, but found his cheeks flushing pink again as Horohoro reached out and grabbed him by the wrist.

"C'mon, sweetheart, don't go."

"Look, Horokeu-"

"No need to be stuffy and uptight with proper names and all that silly business, alright? Please, call me Horohoro, by all means."

"Fine, _Horohoro_," Ren spat. "I haven't got all day to waste-"

"Then I'll make it quick," Horohoro insisted, tightening his grip ever-so-slightly. "Um, I was just wondering, but would you care to join me and my pals tonight out on the waterfront? The night sky's real gorgeous over there, you know. Maybe you'd like to take a look for yourself? We go there every night, and it's real nice out there."

"Like I said," Ren responded in an annoyed tone. "I don't have time for such foolishness."

"Six o'clock, then? Great." Horohoro answered cheerfully, as if Ren had actually consented to the plan.

"You-"

"Can't wait to see you there, Ren, sweetheart."


	3. Forever

Author's Note: Hmm, I don't know if I'm too pleased in how this is turning out so far...But I'll keep writing when I have time for nows, and we'll see how things turn out. Sounds like a plan.

* * *

The next day, at around five o'clock, Ren hurried to Faust's side with a request. He had considered it for a while, and he had finally decided that spending a little time with the intruiging blue-haired boy wouldn't hurt. 

"Doctor?" he inquired hopefully. "May I be excused for the day?"

Faust looked up from the medical papers he was filling out at the moment, setting his pen down. He rubbed his temples before answering, "What for?"

Ren hesitated before answering, "It's just that I...I was invited somewhere..."

Faust blinked. His subordinate medic had a short temper, so he was surprised he had been invited anywhere. But he _did_ seem lonely all the time. And it wasn't as if he was trying to skive off on his medical duties or anything like that. In fact, despite his hemophobia, Faust _did_ notice that Ren worked particularly hard.

"Tao, you do realize that we're filling up quickly with patients."

Ren looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I won't mention it again-"

"Hold on there, Tao," Faust continued, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't say 'no,' did I?"

"I don't believe you did."

Faust smiled his usual tired smile before answering, "Go ahead. I'll finish things up by myself, you go and enjoy yourself for once, alright? Have fun, and see you tomorrow morning, Tao."

Ren blinked in surprise, scarcely believing his ears. "I will, Doctor," he answered, bowing, but concealing the elation that suddenly began to swell within him. "Thank you." With that, he hurried off, untying his apron and hanging it up on its respective rack before leaving the clinic for his apartment.

Once he had arrived in his apartment, Ren glanced at the clock Half past five. Hurriedly, he searched through his closet, selecting a nice pair of black pants and a navy blue coat. After dressing himself and running a comb quickly through his inky hair, he took a final survey in the mirror. It would have to do.

He left his apartment at a quarter 'til six, leaving hismelf ample time to make his way from his dwellings to the waterfront. The chill of dusk was already beginning to set around the area, and he pulled his coat tightly around himself, continuing on at a brisk pace.

Ren arrived at his destination at a minute past six, surprised to see a few figures silhouetted against the rapidly setting sun already there. One he recognized instantly by the all-too-familiar blue hair and obsidian eyes. Swallowing nervously, he wondered how he should act around these people - He had never really had the chance to improve his social life in between the busy hours in the clinic.

"Erm, Horo-"

"Hey, sweetheart, glad you could make it," Horohoro called out cheerfully as Ren cautiously approached the group. Taking his hand, Horohoro gently pulled Ren into the group.

"Ren, let me introduce my pals, alright? Here we go...Asakura Yoh, Lyserg Diethel, and Chocolove McDaniel. All of you, meet Tao Ren. Works at the clinic, he does."

Much to Ren's relief, the group greeted him in what seemed to be a pleased fashion, each of them shaking his hand vigorously and announcing how good it was to meet him, and so on and so forth. So _this_ was what it was like to make friends...?

"Where're your folks?" the chestnut-haired boy, Yoh asked.

Ren hesitated, reluctant to answer. "They no longer have anything to do with me," he answered plainly.

"That's alright, I haven't seen mine in ages." Yoh answered in a carefree tone. "If you haven't got folks, then we're your family."

"Mine're dead," the green-haired boy chimed in, "If that makes you feel any better."

"Mine are long gone," Chocolove, the peculiar boy, offered.

"My parents are dead, too," Horhoro finally said, cheerfully putting an arm around Ren. "Don't you worry, sweetheart, we're all each other's family now, alright?"

Ren drew away from Horohoro's touch, uncertain whether or not he could trust him, or any of these people, for that matter. They hadn't met too long ago, and yet, they were so friendly and kind to him that he was starting to think that it was highly unlikely they really did care about him at all. It all seemed to unreal.

"Something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing," Ren answered quickly, shaking his head. "I was just...thinking."

The dark descended upon the group shortly, enveloping the whole area in a peaceful, calm, tranquil silence. It felt nice, Ren noted to himself, to, for once, be able to sit there and not have to force himself to look at blood, to not have to worry about stress and panic and responsibility. He glanced at the others, all of whom also seemed to be savoring the precious silence. And, for some reason, everything seemed right with the world.

"Hey, sweetheart," Horohoro whispered, leaning closer to Ren and causally placing an arm around his shoulders. "Wanna look up?"

Ren gave him a look of confusion, but he looked up anyway, into the sky. To his surprise, the darkness seemed to be decorated with thousands of little lights, the stars that hung in the sky, seeming to be within reach, but yet, so far away.

"Pretty, huh?"

Ren had to agree.

Horohoro grinned, leaning slightly closer, before adding, "But nowhere near as pretty as you."

At this, a mad blush began to crawl across Ren's cheeks, and he turned away to hide this from the Ainu, who laughed, insisting, "Don't be shy about it, it's the truth."

As Ren's eyes drifted back up towards the sky, a streak of pale light flickered across the dark canvas of the night. A shooting star. It felt silly, but anyway, just to himself, Ren mentally made the wish that this moment would last forever.

Though he knew that nothing lasts forever.

And he who stands amongst the flames watched the group from afar, reading absently through their thoughts, a smile across his sinister face, silently acknowledging this.

_"How right you are, Tao Ren. Nothing lasts forever...especially the lives of yourself and all those beside you."_

* * *

Author's Note: Yeah, I'm going to give something away, so if you don't want any spoilers, don't read the next couple sentences. 

Anyways, I was kind of worried that I made it a little to vague that the figure watching them is Hao, hence the part about the flames...Just making that a little clearer for you all. Thanks.


	4. He Who Stands Amongst the Flames

After what felt like an eternity of silence and simply staring quietly up into the sky, a voice suddenly spoke amongst the group, disrupting the peacefulness.

"Right then, I'm going home to get some sleep," Yoh murmured, stretching and yawning broadly. He rose to his feet, dusting off his knees and waving in farewell to his friends. "See you later, guys."

One by one, the others left as well, until only Ren and Horohoro remained, both reluctant, neither of them wanting to relinquish their grasps on what could have been the most perceptive moments of their lives up until that point.

Finally, Horohoro spoke. "It's getting late, maybe we should get going," he said, although his voice suggested otherwise. "It's almost midnight already."

Without a word, Ren stood up. He still couldn't quite believe that he had allowed himself to waste all that time with a boy he barely knew and some other people he knew even less. Try as he might, though, he simply could not bring himself to think that he hadn't enjoyed it, because he most certainly had.

"Thank you for inviting me," he muttered simply, before turning away to head off towards his apartment.

"Hey, wait," Horohoro insisted, standing up as well. "Want me to walk you home?"

"I can walk myself home," Ren answered coldly. He had no intention of leading the Ainu to his home, which would thus tell him the location of his living, and it certainly didn't make him feel comfortable to think that he knew where he lived.

"C'mon, sweetheart, it's late, and who knows who's lurking around at this ungodly hour. Let me walk you home, alright?"

"I said, I can walk myself home."

"I don't want to see you get hurt."

"For God's sake, I'm not going to get mauled or kidnapped or raped or whatever the hell it is you're thinking. I'm not some helpless little child. I can look after myself," he snapped, getting seriously annoyed by this point.

"Ren, please."

The Chinese boy turned to face Horohoro, who was watching him anxiously, resembling a child who was waiting to see if his mother would agree to letting him purchase some kind of toy. The truth was, even though he didn't really trust his gut instinct normally, Horohoro had this horrible intuition in the back of his mind that Ren was going to be followed by an unpleasant character, though he didn't mention this aloud.

Ren let out an audible sigh of frustration before sighing, "Fine, if you really want to trouble yourself."

Horohoro's grin returned to his face as he hurried to Ren's side. "You won't regret it, sweetheart."

And then the pair set off in the direction of Ren's apartment.

Within ten minutes of walking, it was evident that Horohoro's instincts had been leading him in the correct direction of thought, big surprise there, for in a flash of flame and ash, a figure appeared before them.

Both boys stopped abruptly, slightly surprised by the sudden of appearance of the stranger, who was a rather tall fellow clad in a long cloak and whose long chestnut-colored hair miraculously had not caught fire in the midst of his dramatic appearance.

As soon as Horohoro realized who this was, he began to panic inwardly.

Ren, unaware of the possible dangers, simply glared at the stranger with a curt demand in an icy tone. "Move. You're in our way."

"Tsk," chided the older boy, observing Ren with an amused expression. "Such rudeness. Didn't your mother ever teach you how to behave in front of your future king?"

"King or not, you're in the way. Move."

"Ren," Horohoro muttered, slowly taking hold of Ren's wrist and pulling him behind him. "Shh, alright? Let me handle this." Before Ren could protest, Horohoro faced the stranger and said, "Hao, what do want with us?"

"Us?" the boy, who, apparently, was called Hao, repeated. "I only have business with your pretty little friend there. Care to introduce us, Horokeu?"

"Hell, no."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Hao."

Hao began to laugh in an eerie fashion which sent chills down the spines of both boys. This was not the type of laugh you might here after a joke has been told, it is the cold, concieted type of laugh you hear from people reading your thoughts and toying with you like a cat chasing a mouse.

"How you amuse me, Horokeu, dear. Now, let's be reasonable. I'd hate to do this the hard way..."

* * *

Author's Note: Short chapter, I'm sorry. I got lazy. And I ended it with a semi-cliffhanger, yes, I know, I'm evil and you all hate me and wish I would rot in hell. Too bad for you there's no hell for me 'cause I'm Buddhist. Heheh. 


	5. Drowning in Fear

Author's Note: I haven't been getting a whole lot of reviews, so I'm considering discontinuing this fic, unless you guys feel like reading more. Thanks.

By the way, this is another mildly short chapter.

* * *

Another flash of flame, and Hao was behind the pair. 

The fire shaman reached forward, taking Ren's wrist and drawing him closer in a single, fluid movement, pinning his arm behind his back. With a grin, he placed a hand to the boy's cheek, commenting, "What pretty skin you have, Tao Ren."

Caught off guard, Ren instantly began to struggle in attempts to free himself from Hao's vicelike grip, but only succeeded in drawing another cold, amused, laugh from his attacker.

With a smirk of triumph, Hao dug his fingernails into Ren's cheek, dragging them across the flesh, leaving a row of long, bloody marks.

Ren's eyes widened in horror as he could feel the blood, his own blood, dripping evenly down the side of his face and to the floor. Trembling, he reached upwards with his free hand, touching the wounds gingerly, his breath quickening into a panicked tempo. Noticing this, Hao grinned, finally releasing him, knowing very well that restraining the terrified boy would no longer be neccessary.

Horohoro froze. He _knew_ Ren was hemophobic, even if he hadn't admitted it at the clinic. And that vile, slimy bastard Hao was taking advatange of this fear...

No doubt, he had been looking into the innocent boy's thoughts.

Again, the cold hand of fear wrapped itself around Ren's heart, crushing it, squeezing the life out of it, draining all the energy he had. He felt like screaming, but no sound passed his dry lips, save the gasping breaths that he struggled to breathe. He broke out into a cold sweat, goosebumps crawling up his flesh, a sickening sensation of nausea slamming into him, hard, knocking his senses from him, robbing him of control of his body. His head began to spin, making him terribly dizzy and light-headed, unable to say a single word. He felt as if a pair of hands were clasping at his throat, determined to throttle him as he gasped for breath, struggling to breathe. And to his eternal shame, tears began pouring from his eyes, making a trail down his cheeks and becoming one with the flows of blood. Finally, his knees buckled underneath him, giving way as he slumped helplessly to the floor, allowing himself to become consumed with his deathly fear.

Horohoro was instantly at his side, kneeling next to him, clasping his hands tightly. "You'll be alright, sweetheart, you'll be alright...Please, don't be afraid, you'll be alright," he murmured, wrapping his arms defensively around the trembling boy. "Don't be afraid, sweetheart...I'm here, I won't let anything happen to you..."

"H...Horokeu..." Ren stammered, allowing himself to grip tightly to the Ainu's sleeve as if it were some sort of life preserver, keeping him aloft, preventing the waves of fear to swallow him and drag him into their dark, endless, bleak ocean.

"Ren, sweetheart, don't cry," Horohoro whispered in what he hoped was a comforting tone. "You'll be fine, alright?"

Panting, Ren slowly began to regain normal breathing, the panic subsiding, feeling somewhat reassured by Horohoro's supportive speech.

And Hao just had to be there to ruin the moment.

"How touching," he chuckled, an amused expression in his sinister eyes. "You're quite the gentleman, aren't you, Horokeu? Shame you can barely protect one single little boy from one single drop of blood, eh...?"

In his efforts to comfort Ren, Horohoro had almost forgotten that Hao was there. Not a very wise thing to do at all.

"You bastard," he hissed, hand moving towards his ikupasuy. "If you lay a finger on him again, I'll..."

"You'll what, Horokeu? I'm interested to know what rubbish like you can possibly do to me that would have any effect at all. And, if you'll excuse me, now, I'd actually prefer speaking to your precious Ren in private, but I see that now is not the most convenient of times. But I shall be back later, and if I were you, Tao, I'd watch my mouth. It'd be a shame to kill off such a pretty one as you."

Ren made no effort to reply, but Horohoro instantly began a retort.

"Listen, you concieted asshole-"

Before he could finish the sentence, Hao disappeared in another burst of flames and ash, his laughter and mocking voice still hanging stagnantly in the cold night air.

_"Just wait and see...I'll be back for you, Tao Ren. You'll be mine sooner than you think."_


End file.
